Device for the treatment of lengths of textile material

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for the treatment of lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber adapted to contain a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means provided with a drive means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially disposed in the treatment liquor, the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means being higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means, thereby providing a fluid flow from the outside to the inside thereof, an outflow chamber disposed at one face of the sieve drum means for returning the treatment liquor from the inside to the outside thereof, tensioning means extending into the treatment chamber, around the sieve drum means, and removed from said treatment chamber, inlet means for introducing the material to be treated to said tensioning means and outlet means for removing the textile material from the treatment chamber.

United States Patent [191 Fleissner 1 July 23, 1974 DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF LENGTI'IS OF TEXTILE MATERIAL [75] Inventor: Heinz Fleissner, Frankfurt am Main,

Germany [73] Assignee: VEPA AG, Basel, Schweiz,

Switzerland 22 Filed: June 5,1972

21 Appl. No.: 259,629

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 883,469, Dec. 9, 1969,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 68/18 R, 26/60, 68/DIG. 5 68/20, 68/158 [51] Int. Cl. B056 3/132, D066 3/00 [58] Field of Search 68/5 D, 5 E, 18 R, 19, 68/20, 22 R, 27,158, DIG. 5; 26/60, 61; 34/118, 158

[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,252,181 8/1941 l-lunter et a1 34/158 X 2,724,254 11/1955 Zanger 26/61 A UX 3,410,119 11/1968 Fleissner... 68/D1G. 5 3,440,736 4/1969 Fleissner et a 9/1969 Fleissner 68/D1G. 5 5/1970 Fleissner....., 68/22 R X Primary Examiner-Harvey C. l-lornsby Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe Attorney, Agent, or FirmCraig & Antonelli 5 7 ABSTRACT The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for the treatment of lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber adapted to contain a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means provided with a drive means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially disposed in the treatment liquor, the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means being higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means, thereby providing a fluid flow from the outside to the inside thereof, an outflow chamber disposed at one face of the sieve drum means for returning the treatment liquor from the inside to the outside thereof, tensioning means extending into the treatment chamber, around the sieve drum means, and removed from said treatment chamber, inlet means for introducing the material to be treated to' said tensioning means and outlet means for removing the textile material from the treatment chamber.

15 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJULZMQM 24 14.

sum 1w: 5,

'//7 yenlor HEZ'NZ. FLEISSN F DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF LENGTHS OF TEXTILE MATERIAL This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 883,469 filed Dec. 9, 1969, which application is now abandoned.

BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of lengths of textile material, particularly lengths of fabrics or knit goods, wherein the length of textile material is fastened between clips or pin chains or between clips or pin straps and conveyed through at least one bowl. The bowl or bowls are provided with a vacuum extraction unit.

it is well known to guide fabrics and knit goods which are fastened between tensioning chains or tensionsing straps through bowls in order to obtain as a product a certain material width. Relatively high degrees of shrinkage are observed with wet treatments, i.e., using the so-called hydro-fixation method which is a fixation by means of water and is mostly used for acrylic fibers, particularly for acrylic high bulk fibers. With certain solvents, too, the material tends to shrink considerably. in the usual wash bowls with tensioning chains or tensioning straps the zigzag-formed material is fed to the processing liquor by means of rollers. In this case the material dwells in the processing liquor, only for a certain reaction period.'l f, in order to intensify the washingeffect, the material is treated by means of a processing medium which is injected into the bowl through nozzles, or by means of a circulating liquor, there is the danger that a curvature will be formed in the material being treated.

Furthermore, there are wash bowls being utilized wherein the material is guided over a sieve drum which is subject to a suction draft and accordingly, the material is intensively penetrated by theprocessing liquor. ln this case the material adheres to the sieve drum during the whole processing period. With these sieve drum devices it is possible to avoid the lengthwise tension of the material which occurs in other devices and results in a shrinkage in the width.

These sieve drum wash bowls are usually followed by a squeezing unit. However, it is also possible to arrange a vacuum extraction device after the sieve drum wash bowls. The present invention suggests a combination of the advantages of the sieve drum system and those of 'the material conveyance by means of tensioning chains.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid the prior art disadvantages in the treatment of lengths of textile material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for treating lengths of textile material which combines the advantages of a sieve drum system and those of material conveyanace utilizing tensioning chains.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spririt and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Pursuant to the present invention it has been found that the above-mentioned disadvantages may be eliminated and a much improved apparatus for the treatment of textile materials may be obtained by directing the clip or pin chains or the clip or pin straps around at least one sieve drum which is penetrated by the processing liquor and on which the textile material adheres. Here it is advantageous if the sieve drum and the textile material adhering to it are penetrated by the processing liquor from the outside to the inside thereof. Because of the liquor flow, the textile material is pressed onto the drum jacket and is held tight to the sieve drum.

In order to prevent the textile material from hanging through the chains, particularly material which tends to shrink considerably when it comes into contact with the processing liquor or with the sieve drum, it is desirable to arrange the stringer of the clip or pin chain which immerges into the processing liquor substantially perpendicular. This helps to prevent the material from shrinking unevenly in width. It is also expedient to arrange the pin chains or pin straps close to the sieve drum jacket and to support them so as to be adjustable in width. This arrangement of the pinning-up unit is achieved by providing the pin lamellas of the chain with spring needles.

In order to extract the water from the textile material it is suggested to arrange a vacuum extraction device after each bowl which extracts the water from that side of the material with which formerly adhered to the sieve drum. This arrangement is of advantage because it prevents the textile material from being drawn off the pins and at the same time achieves the guidance of the material quite close to the extraction slit. The pin chains or pin straps and/or the width adjustment device for these tensioning elements can be connected to baffle plates at the extraction slit which permits the convering up of the two side portions of the extraction slit,

depending on the respective width of the length of material being treated.

If there are several bowls, it is desirable to lead the tensioning chains or straps above all the bowls before leading them around the last of the sieve drums from where they are returned back through the different bowls towards the pinning-up unit. A perfect width adjustment necessitates a span length of about 4 to 5 m.

The above execution of the machine safeguards a relaaggregate, too, are accommodated in a solvent-tight housing. The pinning-up unit may be situated outside this housing. A small chamber in front of the inlet end prevents air from entering the housing at that point.

It is expedient to arrange the exhaustor pipe of each bowl immediately after the sieve drum, preferably in the section after the sieve drum where the material is conveyed almost perpendicularly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of another embodiment according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS drum 3. This height difference between the liquor levels outside and inside the sieve drum 3 determines the amount of processing liquor which is pressed through the material into the sieve drum.

FIG. 2 shows that the sieve drum 3 is provided at one side thereof with an outflow section 5 where the liquor rises to the same level as in the sieve drum 3. At the floor of the outflow section 5 a pump 6 is installed. A pumpmotor 7 is supported on a traverse element 8 and can be readily exchanged together with pump 6 with which it forms one removeable unit. A drive 9 for the sieve drum 3 is mounted at the outside of the liquor container 1.

A textile material to be treated 10 is first guided over rollers 11 which are accommodated in an inlet frame element 12. Knit goods are then guided over driven thread fingers 13 which uncurl the material edges. The textile material 10 is then pressed onto the pins of the tensioning chains 15 by means of brush pulleys 14 and conveyed towards the sieve drum 3.

At the inlet end of the housing there is a small chamber 16 which is subject to a suction draft. Throught a duct 17 the solvent/air mixture which is exhausted in this chamber is transported to a solvent recovery unit (not shown in the drawing). A second duct 18 which is also subject to suction draft, leads the rising solvent vapours to the'recovery unit. The tensioning chains 15 are led through rings 19 around the drum 3. In order to avoid an uneven shrinkage of the material in width which may be due to a hanging-through of the material between the chains, the tensioning chains 15 are guided perpendicularly into the processing liquor. If there is no danger of the material hanging through the chains, chains can of course, be sloping. The rings 19 are supported on screw spindles 20 which permit an adjustment of the rings and thus also an adjustment of the tensioning chains, too, depending .on the required working width.

Liquor reflux into the bowl which adjoins the outflow section 5 is effected via a perforated intermediate bottom 21. The tensioning chains and the textile material 15 are guided into and out of the container 1 via two deflecting rollers 22. There is another roller 11 at the point where the material is taken off the pins.

Near the deflecting rollers, preferably near that portion of the textile material 10 which is guided almost perpendicularly, there is a slit tube 23 arranged by means of which superfluous processing liquor is extracted from the textile material 10.

After having been taken off the pins, the textile material 10 is discharged to a conveyor belt 24 which is installed underneath the container land by means of which the material is transported to a subsequent treatment device, e.g., a dryer (not shown in the drawing).

The device according to FIG. 3 is of similar construction as the device according to FIGS. 1 and 2, the only difference being that the former has two treatment bowls with one sieve drum 3 each. The individual parts of the two devices are marked with corresponding figures.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art are intended to be included.

I claim: I

1. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a'treatment chamber containing a treatment-liquor,at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a major portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, said guide means including a deflecting roller disposed within said treatment chamber above said sieve drum means and so positioned that said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface and tangentially to the sieve drum means, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a perforated intermediate bottom is disposed in the treatment liquor below the sieve drum means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber-contains more than one treatment-bowl, each of said bowls containing a sieve drum means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tentering means include pin chains arranged close to the sieve drum jacket and adjustable in width.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means includes means for maintaining a difference in liquid levels between the outside and inside of said sieve drum means, and also an outflow chamber disposed at one face of the sieve drum means for returning the treatment liquor from the inside to the outside thereof, said outflow'chamber having a pump means therein.

6. The apparatus of, claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is provided with a solvent recovery duct subjected to a suction draft, said recovery duct communicating with a solvent recovery plant, and a chamber having means for applying a suction draft thereto is provided adjacent to the inlet of said treatment chamber for recovery of vapors of said treatment liquor via said solvent recovery plant.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means includes a pair of guide rings provided at the periphery of said sieve drum means, said tentering means being guided closely adjacent to said sieve drum means by said guide rings.

8. The apparatus of claim7, wherein the rings are supported onscrew spindles which permit an adjustment of the rings, 1

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means include additional deflecting rollers positioned within said treatment chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said discharge means include a roller means operatively associated with the tentering means for removing the textile material therefrom.

11. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in thetreat ment liquor, means for maintaining the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means higher than the liquid level inside the sieve drum means thereby providing flow of said liquor from the outside tothe inside of said sieve drum means,tentering means for conveyinga length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the'textile material tightly against said sieve drum means, said guide means including deflecting roller means positioned within said treatment chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means, vacuum extraction means operatively associated with the detlecting roller means which guides the tentering means from said sieve drum means, said vacuum extraction means including a suction tube arranged across the width of the textile material for extracting superfluous treatment liquor therefrom, feed means for introducing the length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.

12. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sievedrum means'rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for maintaining the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means thereby providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly'against said sieve drum means, said guide means including deflecting roller means positioned within said treatement chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means, a vacuum extraction means for extracting the liquor from that side of the textile material which contacts said sieve drum means operatively associated with the deflecting roller means which guides the tentering means from said sieve drum means, feed means for introducing the length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said vacuum extraction means is arranged immediately after the sieve drum means at a position where said tentering means and the material thereon are guided almost perpendicularly with respect to said vacuum extraction means.

14. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a major portion of thesieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, said guide means including a plurality of rollers arranged above said sieve drum means for guiding the tentering means over the sieve drum means before said tentering means are guided around an individual sieve drum means, said plurality of rollers including a deflecting roller disposed above said sieve drum means and so positioned that said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a 7 length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the material from said tentering means.

15. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface, and a pair of guide rings provided at the periphery of said sieve drum means, said tentering means being 8 guided closely adjacent to said sieve drum means by said guide rings, said guide rings being supported on screw spindles which permit an adjustment of the rings, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a length of textile-material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means. 

1. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a major portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, said guide means including a deflecting roller disposed within said treatment chamber above said sieve drum means and so positioned that said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface and tangentially to the sieve drum means, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a perforated intermediate bottom is disposed in the treatment liquor below the sieve drum means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber contains more than one treatment bowl, each of said bowls containing a sieve drum means.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tentering means include pin chains arranged close to the sieve drum jacket and adjustable in width.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means includes means for maintaining a difference in liquid levels between the outside and inside of said sieve drum means, and also an outflow chamber disposed at one face of the sieve drum means for returning the treatment liquor from the inside to the outside thereof, said outflow chamber having a pump means therein.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the treatment chamber is provided with a solvent recovery duct subjected to a suction draft, said recovery duct communicating with a solvent recovery plant, and a chamber having means for applying a suction draft thereto is provided adjacent to the inlet of said treatment chamber for recovery of vapors of said treatment liquor via said solvent recovery plant.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means includes a pair of guide rings provided at the periphery of said sieve drum means, said tentering means being guided closely adjacent to said sieve drum means by said guide rings.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the rings are supported on screw spindles which permit an adjustment of the rings.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said guide means include additional deflecting rollers Positioned within said treatment chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said discharge means include a roller means operatively associated with the tentering means for removing the textile material therefrom.
 11. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for maintaining the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means higher than the liquid level inside the sieve drum means thereby providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means, said guide means including deflecting roller means positioned within said treatment chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means, vacuum extraction means operatively associated with the deflecting roller means which guides the tentering means from said sieve drum means, said vacuum extraction means including a suction tube arranged across the width of the textile material for extracting superfluous treatment liquor therefrom, feed means for introducing the length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.
 12. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for maintaining the liquor level on the outside of the sieve drum means higher than the liquor level inside the sieve drum means thereby providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means, said guide means including deflecting roller means positioned within said treatement chamber for guiding the tentering means with said textile material disposed thereon to and from said sieve drum means, a vacuum extraction means for extracting the liquor from that side of the textile material which contacts said sieve drum means operatively associated with the deflecting roller means which guides the tentering means from said sieve drum means, feed means for introducing the length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said vacuum extraction means is arranged immediately after the sieve drum means at a position where said tentering means and the material thereon are guided almost perpendicularly with respect to said vacuum extraction means.
 14. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatmEnt chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a major portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, said guide means including a plurality of rollers arranged above said sieve drum means for guiding the tentering means over the sieve drum means before said tentering means are guided around an individual sieve drum means, said plurality of rollers including a deflecting roller disposed above said sieve drum means and so positioned that said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the material from said tentering means.
 15. An apparatus for the treatment of continuous lengths of textile material which comprises a treatment chamber containing a treatment liquor, at least one sieve drum means rotatably disposed in said treatment chamber and at least partially immersed in the treatment liquor, means for providing flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means, tentering means for conveying a length of textile material under tension, guide means for guiding said tentering means and the textile material thereon into the treatment chamber, around and in contact with a major portion of the sieve drum means immersed in said treatment liquor, and out of said treatment chamber, said guide means including a deflecting roller disposed above said sieve drum means and so positioned that said tentering means is introduced into the treatment liquor substantially perpendicular to the liquor surface, and a pair of guide rings provided at the periphery of said sieve drum means, said tentering means being guided closely adjacent to said sieve drum means by said guide rings, said guide rings being supported on screw spindles which permit an adjustment of the rings, the flow of said liquor from the outside to the inside of said sieve drum means pressing the textile material tightly against said sieve drum means so that the textile material adheres to the sieve drum means during substantially the entire travel through said treatment liquor whereby curved warpage of said material is prevented, feed means for introducing a length of textile material to be treated onto said tentering means and discharge means for removing the textile material from said tentering means. 